Requested Babar Azam Nicely, That Please Come Down At 3, And He Refused – Wasim Akram Make Big Revelation On Pakistan Captain
Published - 29 Oct 2022, 12:31 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:14 AM
Pakistan National Cricket Team bowling greats Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis have slammed Pakistan captain Babar Azam after the World Cup defeat of the Men In Green against Zimbabwe and accused him of being selfish and insecure.
On Thursday, October 27, at the Optus Stadium in Perth, Zimbabwe pulled off an all-time upset by defeating Pakistan by 1-run in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. Pakistan bowlers did a great job by restricting the Chevrons to 130/8, but while chasing the target, openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan failed for the second consecutive time and the Men In Green were able to score 129/8 in their 20 overs.
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Meanwhile, the 50-year-old Waqar Younis bashed the Pakistan captain Babar and said that contributing runs to the team’s victories is more important than becoming the No.1 batter in the ICC Men’s T20I Batting Rankings.
Waqar, who feels opening in T20s is the easiest position to bat, also slammed openers Babar and Mohammad Rizwan for not letting Pakistan experiment at the opening position despite tinkering with everything else in the team.
“The easiest place to bat in T20s is opening. You have not let anyone else open in the last two years. I have discussed this with Misbah before, that why don’t you try something new? You have tried it out with bowling, but with batting, we have tried all the experiments with the middle order. But the openers have remained the same and they have batted 14-15 overs together,” Waqar said on the Pakistan sports show – The Pavillion.
“Sometimes, as a captain and as a leader, you leave your spot and say, Haider, if it is not working out for you in the middle order, I will give you the easier spot (opening) and we never tried that out, and that is why we are suffering. And we also lose because of the way they score runs. To become No.1 and No. 2 (in T20I rankings) is not a big deal, the important thing is to win after scoring those runs,” Waqar further added.
We Had A Couple Of Bad Phases And I Requested Babar Azam To Bat At 3 And He Refused – Wasim Akram Recalls His Days With Karachi Kings
Pakistan legend Wasim Akram recalled his days with Karachi Kings, where he was the coach, and said that he had requested Babar to come down at No.3 when they “had a couple of bad phases” in the team, but the Pakistan captain refused to give up his opening position and suggested Sharjeel Khan, who is a natural opener, should bat at No.3.
“All of these things begin at the top. And at the top is your captain. If your captain plays for himself and is insecure. If your captain scores runs and lets other batters play at his position, you get to know that your captain is ready to sacrifice himself for you, this Babar has to learn,” Wasim said.
“I have been through this by the way with Babar, at Karachi Kings, yes. In the team we had a couple of bad phases and I requested him once or twice nicely, that please come down at number 3, we’ll try something different. Let (Martin) Guptill bat at the top, seeing he is an opener. And he (Babar) said I would not go down, you ask Sharjeel to bat at 3, and he (Sharjeel) is a natural opener too. And these little things that the captain does, the team senses too,” Wasim recounted his time at Karachi Kings.
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ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 ICC T20 World Cup 2022 Karachi Kings Mohammad Rizwan Pakistan Pakistan National Cricket Team Waqar Younis Wasim Akram
